The BASIC Stamp is a
microcontroller with a small, specialized
BASIC interpreter (
PBASIC) built into
ROM. It is made by
Parallax, Inc. and has been popular with electronics hobbyists since the early 1990s.
Technical specifications
Although the BASIC Stamp 2 has the form of a 24 pin
DIP chip, it is in fact a small
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
(PCB) that contains the essential elements of a microprocessor system:
* A Microcontroller containing the
CPU, a built in ROM containing the BASIC interpreter, and various peripherals
* 2kB of
i²C EEPROM memory.
* A clock, in the form of a
ceramic resonator
*
Voltage regulator
A voltage regulator is a system designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage. It may use a simple feed-forward design or may include negative feedback. It may use an electromechanical mechanism or electronic components. Depending on the ...
* External
input/output
In computing, input/output (I/O, i/o, or informally io or IO) is the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer, and the outside world, such as another computer system, peripherals, or a human operator. Inputs a ...
The end result is that a hobbyist can connect a 9 V battery to a BASIC Stamp and have a complete system. A
serial connection to a
personal computer
A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
allows the programmer to download software to the BASIC Stamp, which is stored in the onboard
non-volatile memory device: it remains programmed until it is erased or reprogrammed, even when the power of the stamp is removed. If the power is reconnected the stamp immediately starts executing the program in slot 0 (of 8, numbered 0..7).
Programming
The BASIC Stamp is programmed in a variant of the
BASIC
Basic or BASIC may refer to:
Science and technology
* BASIC, a computer programming language
* Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base
* Basic access authentication, in HTTP
Entertainment
* Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film
...
language, called
PBASIC.
PBASIC incorporates common microcontroller functions, including
PWM, serial communications,
I²C and
1-Wire communications, communications with common
LCD driver circuits, hobby servo pulse trains, pseudo-sine wave frequencies, and the ability to time an
RC circuit which may be used to detect an analog value.
Once a program has been written in the 'Stamp Editor', an
integrated development environment
An integrated development environment (IDE) is a Application software, software application that provides comprehensive facilities for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source-code editor, build automation tools, an ...
(IDE) in Windows, the
syntax
In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...
can be checked,
tokenized and sent to the chip through a
serial/
USB Mini-B cable, where it will run.
Versions
There are currently four variants of the interpreter:
# (1992) BASIC Stamp 1 (BS1)
# (1995) BASIC Stamp 2 (BS2), with six sub-variants:
## BS2e
## BS2sx
## BS2p24
## BS2p40
## BS2pe
## BS2px
# (2002) Javelin Stamp
# (2006) Propeller\Spin Stamp
The BS2 sub-variants feature more memory, higher
execution speed, additional specialized PBASIC commands, extra I/O pins, etc., in comparison to the original BS2 model. While the BS1 and BS2 use a
PIC, the remaining BASIC Stamp 2 variants use a
Parallax SX processor.
The third variant is the Javelin Stamp. This module uses a subset of
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
'
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
programming language instead of Parallax's PBASIC. It does not include any networking facilities.
The fourth variant is the Spin Stamp. The module is based on the
Parallax Propeller and therefore uses the
SPIN programming language instead of PBASIC.
A number of companies now make "clones" of the BASIC Stamp with additional features, such as faster execution,
analog-to-digital converters and hardware-based PWM which can run in the background.
The Parallax Propeller is gradually accumulating software libraries which give it functionality similar to the BASIC Stamp; however, there is no uniform list of which PBASIC facilities now have Spin equivalents.
See also
*
Arduino
Arduino () is an Italian open-source hardware and open-source software, software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardwar ...
ARM-based PCB pin compatible with Parallax BASIC stamp*
ioBridge
*
Make Controller Kit
*
OOPic
*
PICAXE
References
External links
"Comparing PBASIC 2.5 control structures to the old PBASIC"– By Tracy Allen, EME Systems, 2003
Parallax Forums– Discussion Forum
Parallax, Inc.– Corporate website, home of the Basic Stamp and Basic Stamp 2
– By Andy Kaiser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basic Stamp
Microcontrollers
Parallax, Inc. products
BASIC interpreters